Rainbow Dash peered through the cracks in the boarded-up window. She could see them out there, silhouetted against the moonlit sky. Gleaming white in the dark.

Rattlers.

Nopony had known what else to call them, and soon enough it had been too late. Ponyville fell in a matter of days. Survivors on the road would trade stories—about how Canterlot had burned to the ground, Appleloosa was a nest of horrifying skinless creatures. Even Cloudsdale wasn’t safe.

Rainbow Dash pulled away from the window and looked around the darkened room. They were holed up for now in a small cottage just on the outskirts of Dodge Junction. She still wanted to keep moving. The farther away from Ponyville—the farther away from all those memories—the better.

“They’re here, aren’t they?” Rarity whispered.

“Yeah.” Rainbow nodded. “We don’t have much longer.”

Rarity was the only friend Rainbow Dash had left. It had surprised her how well Rarity had adapted to this life. They’d survived together, saving each other’s lives more times than they could count, as they had watched so many others taken by those things.

It was the same every time. If the rattlers got you, it took only seconds for them to take your skin. Soon enough you were nothing but bones yourself. Then nopony could even tell who you once were. The rattlers all looked the same.

The only sounds now were their own breathing and the clicking of bony hooves on the ground outside.

“Come on. There’s got to be a weapon, or… something…” Rainbow Dash said. Her eyes darted around the room.

Rarity stood there in silence, staring at the floor.

“What are you doing?” Rainbow said. “We need to get moving. They’ll be in here any minute now!”

“You have to go, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity said quietly.

“What are you saying?”

“There’s no other way to escape. You can fly out through one of the upstairs windows. I’ll keep them occupied here.”

Rainbow shook her head. “I can’t do that. You can’t do that.”

“I don’t have anything left!” Rarity said. Tears were in her eyes. If she still wore mascara, it would have been running. “I was a designer. I lived for the finer things in life. All of that is gone now. Canterlot. My shop. Not to mention… everything else.”

Rarity didn’t need to say any more. It was clear what she meant. Rainbow would never forget when they fought their way to the clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres, only to find three rattlers waiting for them inside. Small ones.

“There’s no reason for me to go on, but you can still escape, Rainbow Dash. There are other ponies out there who need your help.”

The boards over the window splintered as a slender white hoof smashed through. Rainbow could hear a clattering against the walls as they beat against the house. It was coming from all sides.

“Go now!” Rarity said.

Rainbow bit her lip. She took one look back at Rarity—she briefly thought how much she had changed since this all began—then turned around and galloped upstairs.

She found a window and started to pry the boards off. She couldn’t hear much from downstairs. Rattlers were always deathly silent.

The boards creaked as she pulled them out. She heard something else. Almost an echo. Something creaking on the stairs. That now-familiar rattling sound.

She could feel the rattler’s hollow eyes on her as she finally got the window open and took off into the cold night air. The wind under her wings didn’t give her the same comfort it usually did.

Rainbow Dash forced herself to look back at the house. There was nothing but a mass of white around it—a whole swarm of rattlers. She could hear the bones creaking.

Rarity was one of them now.

She felt the strength draining out of her wings, and she fought to stay in the air. There was only one thought in her mind.

I’m alone.

Rarity was gone. Forever. The rattlers were staring up at Rainbow with those hollow eyes. She turned in midair and stared back at them. She gritted her teeth, and tried to hold back the tears. There was no time for that now.

She wasn’t going to let Rarity be one of them. No matter what, Rainbow was going to make sure her friend would rest in peace.

Rainbow Dash flew low, staring the rattlers down.

“I’ve got a bone to pick with you.”